Need For Speed: Spares Us in 2014

After previous titles like Rivals, Hot Pursuit 2, The Run and Undercover, for the first time in ten years, the Need For Speed franchise will not release a game. Developer Ghost Games needs more development time to make a good game, which hasn’t happened in a long time. The last good Need For Speed games were Shifts 1 and 2 (2009 and 2011), Most Wanted (2005) and Undergrounds 1 and 2 (2003-2004). The classic game will always be Hot Pursuit 2 (2002).

“We’ve made the decision to not release a Need for Speed in 2014, so we can work towards a highly innovative Need for Speed in 2015,” said Marcus Nilsson, executive producer and GM of Ghost Games in a post on the official website.

Different studios tried to recreate the original feel of these classic games, but have not really pulled that feat. It can be debated that the 2010 Hot Pursuit title came close. I never understood why the series made a sequel to Underground and Shift, but never made a continuation of each series. Yet, EA goes into a different direction that has not worked as planned (like Rivals and Carbon).

Perhaps some time off to polish this next title may be a good thing. However, it did not work for NBA Live, which did a similar approach – take a year off and release it a year later and results were poor. Hopefully, Need for Speed 2015 can break that trend.

What do you think of Ghost Games not releasing a Need for Speed game this year?